Spelling it out

Where Clackmannanshire leads, the rest of Britain eventually follows,
writes Donald MacLeod. Today a report on reading by Jim Rose
for the government will recommend children should be taught to read by concentrating on "synthetic phonics" - a method pioneered in the tiny Scottish education authority.

Where Clackmannanshire leads, the rest of Britain eventually follows, writes Donald MacLeod. Today a report on reading by Jim Rose for the government will recommend children should be taught to read by concentrating on "synthetic phonics" - a method pioneered in the tiny Scottish education authority.

Synthetic phonics - see our explainer - is an accelerated learning scheme which teaches the 44 sounds of the English language with only gradual use of books. It differs from the more widespread system of analytic phonics which involves teaching letter sounds after reading has begun.

Enthusiasts for synthetic phonics, including the former chief inspector Chris Woodhead, accuse ministers of wasting time in introducing the method. Many teachers, however, feel a balanced diet of approaches is more likely to be successful as, to the constant irritation of educationalists, children differ so much.